It was a hot and sunny day mid-August morning as Henry pursued his job with a lack of care but with sensibility towards his coworkers as they bustled with their papers and computers. He placed his bag down in his office and turned to listen to the whispers of everyone.

"Did you see the way Earl was covered?"

"In this heat?"

"He looked to have a huge rash or something on his face!"

"I hope he's not contagious."

Henry stopped. Why is Edward at work? He should be on sick leave! Henry pivoted at the realization of what happened to Edward, bringing out a bottle with a wet rag to his office.

Henry passed Angela, "You know I really don't mind being his assistant," Angela pursed her lips in anger maybe from the way everyone talked about Edward, "but I have other work to do, Henry." She yelled the second half when Henry was farther away. He kept walking down the hallway, pushing into Edward's office.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The room was dark with the bookshelf pushed against one window and the blinds shut and taped on the others. A warm heat bled through the cracks and set the room ablaze.

Henry could feel himself break a sweat out almost the instant he walked in. "You should be on sick leave!" He hissed.

Edward, lounging with a serious stiffness in his chair, held up a book to his face. Pacing to the blinds behind Edward, Henry peered through them, taking a long look at the beautiful view of the city. He huffed before turning to Edward and pulled down the book. Henry didn't move or gasp at the sight of half of Edward's face blistered and red with skin peeling and flaking off. He looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry." He muttered between his wet lips—wet from his tears.

"There's no need to be sorry." Henry got to one knee and comforted Edward. "I'm just surprised that you're up and going about after the transformation. You should be on sick leave." When Edward dropped his face, embarrassed, Henry sighed took out his rag, and dabbed blood on Edward's cruel face.

Edward jumped, turning away quickly, "What are you doing?" He whispered.

Henry paused and gestured as if Edward should have known. "I'm cleaning your face. It'll get rid of the blisters. As deep as those burns go, it'll take time to heal, but it's important to immediately treat it." Henry pulled Edward's chair so he could reach the burns.

Edward twitched as he let Henry dab the cloth to his face, "I'm hideous. You were right, it wasn't worth it. Immortality is a burden. I'm a hideous burden."

Henry leaned back, taking down his rag. "Now see here, Edward!" Edward scrunched his nose at his old name. "I think you're very beautiful! Immortality has given you a new body which I think is gorgeous. Just because you don't fit the mold of what the boys around the block are looking like doesn't mean you have to. Wear those scars on your face with a badge of honor because not everyone can survive the transformation as well as you have. Not everyone can deal with immortality like you have, the thirst and vampire inside of you, and what you are now. Be proud of it!"

Edward shook his head, tears in his eyes. "I'm—but I'm—I can't let anyone know lest they figure out about us. No—it's something that has to be hidden, so these scars can never be a badge of honor." He crumpled in on himself and laid his head on his desk. Edward took a deep breath in, letting it out with hesitancy. "I'm not like I was before the transformation." He took another deep breath, "I—I just need time to understand these feelings of—whatever it is."

"It's thirst. That's normal, we all have those feelings. You'll learn to embrace it. If you need, I can tell everyone that you're on sick leave. They all know you have a rash of sorts, so I think it may be best to take the week off until you feel better and learn about your new body."

Edward nodded his head; his breath still shaken.

"Okay." Henry mouthed. He patted Edward's back before leaving.

~~~~~~~

"What did you do?" Veronica's harsh whisper resonated across the phone.

"I didn't do anything!" Henry exclaimed. He was at home, feeling the warmth of the sun through his windows bathe his skin. "We decided on it together."

"A decision like this takes time. Usually months to years! It's only been three weeks!"

"It's not like I just met him." Henry got to his feet from his chair. "He remembers me from 1790. We've known each other since then. That's nearly two hundred years!"

Veronica's voice hushed to a hiss. "No reception! No ceremony! What type of animal are you?"

"Edward didn't do anything of the sort with Lucy!" Frazzled, Henry started pacing, "Why are you so angry? Did I anger God?" His emotions teetered instantaneously to a worry for his lack of a soul. "It's not like I killed a man like you did, though! Why should he treat me worse off than you?"

"That type of thinking is what causes men to fall straight from the sky, Henry!" Veronica admonished.

Henry recoiled, sinking behind his easy chair. "You're right. I'm sorry. I should be banished to hell for a lot of things I've done. I—" Henry paused, feeling his words catch in his throat. "I'm sorry about getting angry at you for the Dickinson's pages. It's just paper, it's not like her ideas were washed away with the blood. They've been immortalized like me. I—I apologize for getting so mad."

There was a moment of silence before Veronica started with a shaky voice: "It's alright, Henry. We all make mistakes from time to time—even the true immortals like me—don't beat yourself over it. I know what it must feel like to lose everything you've owned. Your villa house in Italy, the poetry from England and America, all the tokens and trophies you've collected over the years. It helps define who you are."

"That's the thing I realized, Veronica." Henry stopped her from continuing. "I don't need all that stuff to know who I am or to be who I am. I am for what I've become as an individual, not what I own."

Veronica stayed utterly still on her end, and for a while she said nothing until the phone disconnected, leaving Henry to stare at his small bookshelf of what remained from his house in Italy.

~~~~

The office was all but a haze as Angela waited for the feel of Edward's teeth beneath her skin. She was ravished by her delusions and fantasies. The way his cold skin would feel against the heat of the moment and the way she would breathe into him. One by one, she watched as everyone left, and she bid them goodbye with a warm tone. She kissed goodbye the languid workers and welcomed the cool night as she opened a window. A fan was all that could be heard, humming delightfully in the background, as Angela Gardner sat watching the still door at the end of the hall to Earl's office.

A creak and the reveal of his darkly figure. Angela turned with her head down and stiffly walked to the closet. She could feel his quick movements catch up to her, and when she made it to the door, she felt his hands around her and together they collapsed through.

"Oh my God!"

She felt his fangs dig deep into her. Edward hunched over her, and Angela reached with both her hands to the back wall. His arms wound around her body and then clutched her brittle neck. It was only a few seconds that Edward had sucked her blood when he forced himself to stop. He felt her sweet body melt into him out of weakness from the draining of her blood.

"That's enough, I should think before you turn into a vampire yourself." Angela, crossed eyed from a painful ecstasy, grunted a moaning reply. "Don't worry, you're not going to turn into a vampire: I made sure I didn't leave any venom in you." Edward stood over her crippled body. "

"—I wouldn't want this vampirism to catch like a disease." He snarled in disgust of himself.

If Angela could have talked, she would have reprimanded Edward on his selfishness in hoarding his immortality.

She couldn't have kids for she was as barren as a desert in a drought, and when the flowers bloomed, all she could do was wish for a chance for immortality like the rest of the mothers and children destined for heaven. Edward huffed a disregarding sigh of disappointment and left Angela to seize in the closet.

Reds. Hues. And blues. All the colors of a dying heart. Love me, or don't, how should I know the difference if you left me with the gift of your vampirism, darling.

Chapter 19

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